New Durham has new town administrator Former employee took post with Dover

By Samantha Allen

sallen@fosters.com

Monday, November 19, 2012

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Allen/Democrat photo
Jeremy Bourgeois is the new town administrator of New Durham.

NEW DURHAM — After stepping down from her post as town administrator, Alison Webb has taken a position with the City of Dover and Durham resident Jeremy Bourgeois has stepped in to take her place at Town Hall.

Bourgeois, 25, told Foster’s he moved to Durham and subsequently had to step out of the running for the District 8 state representative race this year, after getting the job to serve as New Durham’s town administrator. He started on Oct. 2 and also holds a part-time position as a housing director for a University of New Hampshire (UNH) fraternity.

Bourgeois said New Durham is a jumping-off point for his hopeful lifetime career in municipal work. A Rochester native, Bourgeois graduated from Spaulding High School in 2005 before pursuing an associate degree at UNH in community leadership. He received a political science bachelor’s degree in 2009 and then shortly after served in a fellowship with the Municipal Management Association of New Hampshire. The program is designed around the association’s partnership with UNH and the New Hampshire Local Government Center. Bourgeois graduated with a master's degree in public administration in December 2011.

In that time, he shadowed the Derry town administrator in the summer of 2011, as well, learning the ropes of an administrator’s post.

For the future, he said he hopes to serve as a town or city manager and may even dabble in the political field.

“I like it (New Durham). It’s a small town, with small staff, so I know them pretty well by now,” he said. “… It’s just a great opportunity to start off a career.”

Bourgeois noted Webb was well respected by the community during her time in New Durham. She is now serving in the human resources department in the City of Dover.

He added a major goal for the future of the town is the renovation of the Town Hall building, including repairs to the exterior and putting in new restrooms, as well as making the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“We’re hoping to get the ball rolling on this by the end of the year,” he said.